Emmet

did you know

Emmet is the western gateway to Idalia

National Park DOUBLE THE POPULATION

Travel with a friend to Emmet and you will instantly double the population. That’s right, there are currently two residents calling Emmet home. It was once a thriving town built around a railway siding with a population of 30. Emmet became the second ‘water stop’ for steam trains travelling west from Blackall. As with many ‘water stops’ along new railways, it grew into a new settlement. Before you leave town (and half the population) read the town’s full ‘boom and bust’ story inside the revamped railway station and old store.

WALK AND EXPLORE

Pack your day pack and your walking poles if you’re eager to delve deeper into this 144,000-hectare park. Visitors to Idalia can choose from five different walking trails graded from Easy to Difficult. Enjoy wide-sweeping views from Emmet Pocket Lookout, visit an old mustering camp and stockyards or walk to the wave-shaped cliff overhang. Camping is permitted at Monks Tank camping area.

JUMP INTO NATURE

Drive 70km from Emmet and you’ll enter Idalia National Park, home to the yellow-footed rock-wallaby. The park is one of only seven small pockets of land in Australia where you’re likely to spot this largest of wallabies. It’s also the most colourful – brown and yellow ringed tail, yellow paws, white underbelly and white stripes on its flanks, hips and cheeks. If you get too close, expect to see the wallaby thump its feet to warn others.

Keen twitchers will be excited to learn that a number of rare bird species call Idalia home including plum-headed finches, eastern yellow robins and speckled warblers.

MUSE WITH THE MASTERS

‘On the Outer Barcoo where the churches are few, And men of religion are scanty, On a road never cross’d ‘cept by folk that are lost, One Michael Magee had a shanty.’

About an hour south-west of Yaraka is a turn-off to the ruins of Magee’s Shanty. According to local folklore, Banjo Paterson wrote the iconic poem ‘A Bush Christening’ at this very site. Nearby are the ruins of a Cobb & Co pub and the lonely grave of goldminer Richard Magoffin who perished in 1885 chasing his fortune. To access the area, you’ll cross a vast clay pan, so be prepared to kick up some dust! Yaraka Hotel operates a tour to the Shanty if you’d prefer not to drive. Check tour details with the publicans on arrival in town.

PINPOINT THE BEGINNING

You could be correct in saying that Yaraka ‘grew on the sheep’s back’. The region began as a large paddock filled with prized Merino sheep belonging to the massive Milo Sheep Station. It came into its own when the State Government split up the Milo leases. The town was officially founded in 1917 with the opening of the rail line from Emmet. The new station was named Yaraka (the Indigenous name for white spear grass) and ultimately became the end of the line.